Ex Milestone Exec Becomes Vicon CEO

Next stop: Dedicated Micros or Norbain.

A question has been raised about what impact this might have on Milestone, i.e., Could Fullerton effectively recruit significant / key people from Milestone?

The problem I see here is that Vicon is a risky choice. It's one thing with Fullerton's comp package and stage of career but, for more junior people, do they really want to take a risk on Vicon?

Milestone, as a subsidiary of Canon might become boring, but its still a strong brand in the space in comparison to Vicon who has the potential of being a disaster.

Key to recruitment will be ability to raise more funds. The company is down to less than $6 million in cash, and burned over $2 million in the previous 9 months due to its weak overall performance (see June 2014 10Q).

The real question is what does he think the problems Vicon may have?

What is his answer?

Can he execute?

Did Fullerton do well in the Milestone/Canon deal? If he's reasonably financially stable without his Vicon options, then this makes for a great challenge without a ton of downside. It's the challenges that we can sink our teeth into that make us want to get up in the morning. He'll have the opportunity to set a vision and the opportunity to realize it. There's nothing more rewarding than that.

If Vicon implodes, no one will blame him, because it's well known that it was on the way out anyway. If Vicon comes back, he'll look like a genius, because it's well known it was on the way out. Frankly, the only risk here is if it just kind of levels out, limping along on life support till he gets bored and goes to do something else, and what are the chances of that?

With 130 votes already, this is one of the most divided polls we have ever had at IPVM.

37% voted don't know, which is a record high, reflecting how rare a move this is.

Of those with a stance on the move, slightly more think it is a smart rather than stupids one (35% to 29%).

Could he be doing doing this to sell it to Canon who may want something that Vicon has or could have and can bring to market? After all he was close to the transaction and probably has a very good idea of Canon weaknesses.

From experience I can say that life post-close in a deal like this becomes very uninteresting, you go from an intense, highly focused environment that ends with a big win, to... working for the man. It's quite a letdown, and it's very typical for senior folks to move on to new challenges in the following months. People who thrive in an entrepreneurial environment typically get frustrated in the big corporate world.

So, my money is on him simply having left to seek out new challenges and apply his skills where they can have a visible effect.